Updates for Korean: The Snacks & Kitchen Box

Exciting news!

All TalkBox.Mom Families who received a Korean: Snacks & Kitchen Box on or before April 9, 2021 have been sent a replacement set! (If you ordered after this date, you have the newest set.)

If you are receiving a new set, please recycle your other prints before opening these, so there is no confusion.

There was nothing wrong with the Korean in the prints you had. These new prints have the same phrases and same amount of pages as well as same graphics and layout. The TalkBox.Mom Companion App also continues to have these same phrases, so you won’t be missing anything you have been learning.

Our Korean team wanted to update the prints to (1) use the same phonetics from Use Korean at Home, which call attention to softer sounds–sounds in between two sounds in English. The prints have updated phonetics and the app reflects these updates. 

Our Korean team also wanted to (2) update the phrases with a warmer parenting style. In Korea, phrases can sound extra polite, too strict, or a little more familiar. Our team wanted our families to sound warmer, which is how many younger families in Korea sound. (Don’t worry, you’ll still be using honorifics of course!)

This change also makes the patterns in the language more similar, which will help you to learn faster. The TalkBox.Mom Companion App continues to have the new and previous versions with notes when appropriate.

To help aid you in this small transition, I worked with our Korean team to outline each major change. (See below.)

Again, these changes are really small. Don’t be intimidated by how long this is. It’s just detailed, so if you’ve worked on any of the previous challenges, you will see exactly what changed. As the changes in the phonetics are self-explanatory, I won’t be outlining those here.

We are committed to creating the best experience for you to speak Korean with your family. So although these changes are reflected in the app, we want you to have the newest prints for a five-star experience. And to make things even better–the app now has all-new audio for the first box!

Please let us know if you are confused or have questions. Email us at support@talkbox.mom.

xo,

Adelaide
support@talkbox.mom

DETAILS FOR UPDATES

CHALLENGE 1

SECTION 2

Would you like to eat… (honorific)

This phrase pattern completely changed to be warmer. This change also makes this phrase more similar to the non-honorific version. 

Would you like your apples peeled? (honorific)

The ending of this phrase changed to be warmer. This change also makes this phrase more similar to the non-honorific version. 

SECTION 3

I / We want to eat… , (please). (both versions)

These phrase patterns were updated to be warmer and less transactional, like in a store setting. This update also makes this pattern more similar to Section 2 and Section 4. The previous version is included as a bonus in the app because it is useful in other situations, like in a store. 

SECTION 5

Here is / are…

Only the Korean writing was updated to have a space between the two words. 

Do you want some more?

“Jom” when used with the wrong tone can sound rude, so the team updated this word to “joh-geum,” which always sounds nice. 

You had the last one.

Here we simplified the explanation by moving the version for an older sibling or friend that was under honorific to the left column.

Your… had the last one.

Here we took the opportunity to add pronunciation variations for titles ending with a vowel or consonant and more details.

Do you want to eat a banana instead? (honorific)

The phrase was changed to be warmer. This change also makes this phrase more similar to the non-honorific version. 

SECTION 6

Are you all done eating? (honorific)

The phrase was changed to be warmer. This change also makes this phrase more similar to the non-honorific version. 

You’re all done eating. (honorific)

The phrase was changed to be warmer. This change also makes this phrase more similar to the non-honorific version. 

Throw away your trash.

Leave your plate/s on the counter.

Put your plate/s in the dishwasher.

Put your plate/s in the kitchen sink.

All of these phrases have a small change for them to sound more like a request than an order to reflect that softer parenting style. 

CHALLENGE 2

In the top phrases, you’ll note that these phrases continue to reflect the changes in Challenge 1, including replacing “jom” with “joh-geum.” Because it is optional, the pattern is shown once on the print; however, you can hear the full phrases in the app. 

Prickly Pear

Here the team decided to switch the loanword from English (an English word said with an accent) with a Korean word. Both options are acceptable and are included in the app. 

Green Beans

This word is a loanword from English and the plural ending was removed to simplify it. Both options are used, and in cases like this, using the shorter version is faster for speech.

Cashews

This word was also simplified to reflect a more common option. 

Miso Soup

The English was updated here to read “Soy Bean Soup,” which is more specific to Korea. The Korean reads the same as before.

French Fry

This word was also updated to a Korean version and not the English loanword. Both options are acceptable; however, the Korean version is shorter and faster to use.

Bread

Here we added more options to reflect different types of bread. We also added more types of bread in the app.

Popsicle

This word was updated to be closer to what younger families say. It’s now the same word as ice cream because this is the common way younger families refer to popsicles. 

Cake

Cake was also updated to be closer to what younger families really say. Most Korean dictionaries have not caught up with this change. However, it is standard, typical speech. 

CHALLENGE 3

The most style changes were made in Challenge 3. They were very slight, but we want to note all of them, so you can watch for them.

Table: Cards 1-9, 14, 41, 43, 44, 45.

The word table on these cards reflected a Korean table with short legs commonly used to eat at. The new word for table describes the types of tables we eat at in the United States. 

Please note however that “Please set the table,” was not updated because this phrase is an idiom. (Card 14)

Jom: Cards 1-8, 15, 31, 37

The word “jom” was removed from all cards, so it’s not accidentally used with a mean tone resulting in a rude expression. 

Put… on the table: Cards 1-9, 11, 14

The ending of this expression for the non-honorific version was updated to be more of a request to reflect a softer parenting style. This change was very small: the ending now has “jweo.”

Requests:

The endings of these expressions for the non-honorific versions were updated to sound more like requests than a demand to reflect a softer parenting style. This change was very small: the ending now has “jweo.”

Card 12: Please push in your chair; Card 14: Please sit at the table; Card 15: Put the food in the fridge. / Take __ out of the fridge. . / Close the refrigerator door; Card 19: Put the food in the freezer; Card 20: Take the dishes out of the sink, and put them in the dishwasher; Card 24: Put the dishes on the dish rack to dry. (both versions) / Put the dishes away; Card 26: Put the soap in the dishwasher. / Close the lid; Card 31: Clean off the counter. / Put your plates on the counter; Card 32: Bring the stool over here; Card 33: Throw that away in the trash; Card 34: Shut the cupboard doors. / Put the dishes in the cupboard; Card 36: Close the cupboard door under the sink. / Grab __ out from under the sink; Card 37: Get __ out of the pantry; Card 40: Put the spice jar back on the spice rack; Card 41: Put the butter dish on the table. / Put the butter dish away; Card 42: Put the fruit in the fruit bowl. / Wash the fruit before you eat it; Card 43: Put the salad bowl on the table; Card 44: Put the sugar bowl on the table. / Put the sugar bowl away; Card 45: Pour the drinks. / Put the pitcher on the table; Card 46: Put the jug back in the fridge; Card 47: Open the jar. / Close the jar.

Warmth:

Cards 1 – 7: Can you get me… (both versions), Card 13: You need to stay in your high chair. (both versions)

The ending of these expressions was changed to be warmer.

Don’t…: Card 8, 12, 21, 27

The expression in these sentences was updated to have a tone that sounds more like: “You must not…/ You should not..,” which reflects more how a parent would firmly but kindly say it.

Card 11: “Get a napkin,” was updated to an expression that is closer to “grab” or “get yourself” to add more nuance. But both versions can be used interchangeably because in English we often interchange “get” and “bring,” so both versions are available in the app.

Card 22: The translation for “sponge” was updated in the title and all phrases to a Korean word that specifically means “sponge to wash the dishes,” instead of a more general word for sponge.

In the sentences “First, I put the soap on the sponge / brush” the subject “I” has been added to add emphasis to the subject.

Card 27:  The word for “electric stove” was updated to a more general term to better match the kind of electric stove that can be found in American households. The previous translation can totally be used and is still available as an option in the app, but it’s referring to a specific kind of electric stove called an induction stove, which is very popular in Korea. 

Card 29: The word “food” was removed from “I need to warm up the food for one minute in the microwave,” because in Korean, you usually omit the subject or the object of a sentence when it’s made obvious by the context. 

We also added an additional option in the app for “The microwave is beeping!” as the current translation is referring to the “beep beep” sound of the microwave (isn’t that cute?!), but it’s also possible to say “the microwave is ringing.”

Card 30: In the App, we added an additional option that is used in Korean for “It popped up,” which means “It came up.”

Card 33: “The trash smells really bad” was updated to a more colloquial expression.

Card 37: The team decided to switch the loanword from English with a Korean word.

Card 38: “I am turning the blender on,” was updated to a more colloquial, shorter expression for daily speech. But both expressions can be used interchangeably.

Cards 45 & 46: The pitcher and jug translations were updated to the same expression to sound more natural because Korean speakers don’t really make a difference between a pitcher and a jug as we do in English. They just call them “big bottles.”

Card 48: The vegetable peeler literal translation was removed because it’s not used as often in Korean as the new option. They usually say “potato peeler” even if it’s used to peel other vegetables.

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